Green Market

I have fallen in love with New York again. Fall is by far my favorite season. Everybody is out shopping and the energy is magnetic. I can't get enough of the colors of the changing trees and all the great green markets bursting with ripe and decadent apples, peppers and squash. The Union Square Green market is my new hangout where I'm finding all my inspiration for recipes and what is especially catching my eyes and my stomach is the extravaganza of multicolored peppers and fresh fragrant cilantro. These ingredients remind me of the southwest.
Growing up in AZ I rarely saw seasons. Arguably there are two seasons, summer and another that is somewhere between winter and spring. Green markets were few and hard to come by and regional cuisine would be along Tex-Mex and Sonoran style Mexican food. This is rich food, meaning that when you went out to eat you would receive a plate that was literally overflowing with sauce, beans, cheese and any of the infinite ways of putting together food with a tortilla. Vegetables in Sonoran style Mexican food are kind of sparse, the food is focused on salsa rojas, salsa verdes, rich moles and CHEESE. And of course iceberg lettuce! But, here in NY with the plethora of gorgeous veges that the green market offers I love to add my own versions to the cuisine with crisp zucchini, yellow squash, vine-ripe tomatoes and whatever else is in season and suiting my creative culinary mind. Any of these vegetables make perfect fillings for enchiladas, burritos, chili rellenos and fajitas.
So foodies on that note, I'm hungry, and going to fix myself a quesadilla with some organic green market veges and homemade salsa fresca.